Monday, October 20th, 2008

Catapult

R.E.M.'s Murmur being reissued

Those fancy double-disc deluxe edition reissue sets have become fairly commonplace recently as the labels try to take advantage of the type of people willing to buy the same album over and over again while they’re still alive, but that doesn’t mean they’re not – at least sometimes – getting it right. Case in point, the announcement that R.E.M.’s debut album Murmur will be getting said treatment this Fall.

Pitchfork has your specifics, but basically you’re looking at the standard remastered album on disc one – maybe the same remaster job as the last couple times Murmur was re-released? – and for the second disc, a complete live show recorded here in Toronto circa 1983. The gig was held at a no-longer existent dive called Larry’s Hideaway which if memory serves (and by memory I mean Google – I was 8 at the time and wouldn’t have had the experience with Toronto’s live music dives that I do now) was located just a few blocks from here at Carlton and Jarvis. Anyone know if the place still exists in some form and if so, what it is now? I’m curious.

The Murmur deluxe edition is out November 25. Update:Blurt has some thoughts on what they view as a flawed reissue (thanks to Eugene for the link).

Though guitarist Damian Cox has recovered from his stroke well enough to blog, he’s not sure if or when he’ll be able to play guitar again so as a result, The Long Blondes have called it a day. Details at NME. Singles, the compilation of their early singles, is out in the UK today.

So while I usually try and actually get a substantive post up for Mondays, this week will instead kick off only the slim bits above and a weak-ass apology. Rather than actually do any listening or writing this weekend, I was instead coding, trying to get a fairly significant upgrade to this here site working and while it’s tantalizingly close, it’s not there yet. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe the day after. Hopefully before I leave for New York, at the very least.

According to this, "The building that housed Larry’s Hideaway was torn down in the late 1980s as part of an urban gentrification project. The plot of land where it once stood is now part of the northern region of Allen Gardens."”

I feel old. I was at the REM show at Larry’s. It was a dive but they had some great shows there. Off the top of my head, I can recall killer shows by The Fall, Flipper, and Los Lobos. I’m sure there were more. Also lots of local bands played there.

Adjacent to the park. Closed for renewal project and then became arson victim while community was battling over historic value (was hotel as well, touring bands stayed upstairs). Great shows there by Destroy All Monsters, Husker Du, The Gun Club, and many others. Hope the REM show there was better than the one later that year at the Concert Hall (Masonic Temple).

bobfrombob: Yeah, me too. The old bit, I mean. Larry’s was a dump — low ceilings, pillars and a low stage that made for lousy sightlines, bathrooms that required rubber boots, needles on the sidewalk outside — but some of the shows were great. I was out of town for the R.E.M. show, but I caught Flipper (who drank a case of beer on stage, then ventured out into audience to steal more), Husker Du (Greg Norton jumped up and down, whacking is head on the low ceiling), Killing Joke (the show was released on a 10" album called Ha!) and Richard Thompson. A hole for sure, but a cool part of life’s rich pageant at the time.